The Bible provides numerous examples of people who traveled on unlikely paths to achieve God’s purposes. Each of their stories illustrates powerful truth we can apply to our own lives. Priscilla encourages those doing her study to learn from some of these characters (see page 144 if you’re doing it). Below you’ll find a brief summary of each of their stories. Choose the one you identify with most and use the suggestions that follow to prompt your prayers.
Joseph: We find his story in Genesis 37-50. One of Jacob’s twelve sons, he received a coat of many colors from his father that showed he was the clear favorite. As a teenager, he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and sent to Egypt. Through years of slavery and an unjust incarceration, God continued to refine him as a leader and to equip him with experiences that would shape his character. Eventually he rose to be second in command of Egypt and saved the entire region from a deadly famine. Amazingly, he also saved his brothers from the famine, forgave them, and acknowledged that what they had intended for harm, God had used for good. He traveled down a long and difficult path into the “sovereignly arranged purposes of God.” (p. 144)
-Are you in a season where life seems unfair? Does it seem impossible that God could use the bad things that have happened to you for good? Maybe, like Joseph, you can ask God to use this time to shape your character and to prepare you for what comes next.
Moses: His story unfolds in the book of Exodus, starting with being spared from a death sentence as a baby. His mother’s plan to save his life by floating him in a basket in the Nile led to adoption by a princess. He was raised in the house of Pharaoh, where he learned how to be a leader. After murdering a slave driver at age 40 and fleeing into the desert, he spent the next 40 years herding sheep. Only then did he discover God had been preparing him to return to Egypt to lead the Israelites to freedom. Once he brought them out of Egypt, he spent another 40 years with them in the wilderness before leading them to the Promised Land (which he never got to enter).
-Are you in a wilderness season like Moses was for forty years (twice)? Ask God to show you what He wants you to learn as you’re waiting for Him to reveal His plans for you.
Ruth: We find her story in the Old Testament book of Ruth. As a young widow, she chose to leave her home country of Moab and travel to Bethlehem with her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi. With no money and no prospects for the future, she provided for herself and Naomi by gleaning in the fields alongside other poor people and foreigners. Her upstanding character and faithfulness to her mother-in-law caught the attention of the field owner, Boaz. Eventually they married and had a son who was in the lineage of Jesus.
-Are you in a season where the tasks before you seem menial? Pray that God gives you the faithfulness and character of Ruth to execute them for your good and His glory. You may be surprised to discover how He uses them to impact others and to bless you.
Esther: We read her story in the Old Testament book of Esther. As a Jewish girl living in Persia, she found herself recruited into the harem of King Xerxes after the execution of his previous queen. Eventually, she became his replacement wife and later risked a death sentence when she approached him in the throne room without an invitation. The courageous appeal she made saved her people from annihilation and turned the tables on those plotting against them.
-Do you have a personal or professional relationship with a powerful person? Can you leverage that relationship to help someone else? Pray and ask God to use you to influence him or her in ways that glorify Him and further His kingdom on earth.
Daniel: His story unfolds in the Old Testament book of Daniel. As a captive from Israel brought to Babylon, he served in the royal courts of three different kings. During his lifetime, his integrity, wisdom, and faithfulness to the one true God always showed clearly. In one story, rivals plotting against him created a trap that would make his devout faith worthy of a death sentence. After being thrown into a lion’s den for praying to his God, his life was miraculously spared and God received all the glory.
-Are you facing persecution because of your faith? Is there a place in your life where others disregard or dislike you because you follow Jesus? Pray and ask God to help you stand firm, to protect you, and to bring glory to Himself through you, just as He did with Daniel.
Ananias: We find his story in Acts 9 when God appears to him in a vision and calls him to restore Saul’s sight after he’s struck blind on the road to Damascus. Knowing Saul was actively persecuting and killing Christians, Ananias questioned God’s directive to help him. After the Lord made it clear that this was His plan, Ananias overcame his fear and went to find Saul. He healed him, prayed for him to receive the Holy Spirit, and baptized him.
-Is there a challenging person God has placed in your life for you to impact? Pray and entrust your fears to God and allow Him to use you.
None of these characters knew how their situations would turn out, but they chose to trust God anyway. For some, they endured decades of hardship before seeing how He was going to redeem their circumstances. When we get discouraged waiting and wondering how God is going to work something out, we can take heart remembering these stories.
“So, instead of asking God to reveal His will for the next twenty years of your life, refocus your request. Ask Him to give you the courage to fully engage in what he has put before you today, as well as the faithfulness to stay on the path until He gives you different or new directions. Keep a firm confidence in His purposes, His plans—and His perfect timing.” (p. 153)
Click on the link below and find some inspiration by listening to “Confidence” by Sanctus Real.
Priscilla Shirer, Discerning the Voice of God, Lifeway Press 2018.